Ellie Morgan adjusted her backpack and hurried a
cross the dusty campus.
The midday sun beat down on the cracked sidewalk
s of Briar Glen, a small town that had seen bett
er decades.
A low rumble shook the air.
Then silence, thick and unnatural.
Ellie froze.
Somewhere beyond the hills, smoke curled into th
e sky.
“Did you feel that?” Her best friend, Jess, jogg
ed up beside her, phone already in hand.
“Something just hit the woods. Big.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes.
Her gut said this wasn’t just another meteor sho
wer.
She broke into a run.
Jess cursed and followed.
They reached the edge of the forest just as the
trees parted with a groan.
Metal, scorched and glowing, lay embedded in the
earth.
Ellie’s breath caught.
The wreckage wasn’t natural.
A hatch hissed open.
Smoke billowed out.
And then he stepped out.
Tall, broad, and impossibly humanlooking.
His armor was scorched, his stance unsteady.
Ellie took a cautious step forward.
“You’re hurt.”
He looked at her.
“Your voice…”
She blinked.
“What?”
He staggered.
“You’re… her.”
Jess grabbed Ellie’s arm.
“Back up. This is insane.”
But Ellie couldn’t move.
Something deep inside her pulsed.
A warmth.
A pull.
He fell to one knee.
“I need to warn you.”
Jess raised an eyebrow.
“Warn us about what?”
He looked up, eyes glowing faintly blue.
“They’re coming.”
Ellie swallowed hard.
“Who?”
“The Dominion.” His voice was hoarse. “They hunt
my kind. They will take you, too.”
Ellie’s heart pounded.
“Why me?”
He reached out, hand trembling.
“You are fated.”
Jess looked between them.
“What the hell does that even mean?”
Ellie didn’t answer.
She was already touching his hand.
A shock ran through her.
Images flashed—stars, war, a world burning.
And him.
Always him.
Jess backed away.
“This is not normal.”
Ellie barely heard her.
The bond was real.
And it was growing.
Overhead, a new sound broke the sky.
Jets.
The alien’s eyes widened.
“They found me faster than I thought.”
Ellie grabbed his arm.
“We have to go.”
He nodded.
“There’s a shelter. A place my people left behin
d.”
Jess groaned.
“Of course there is.”
The bombs started falling before they reached th
e trees.
Shrapnel tore through the campus.
Ellie pulled him along, heart hammering.
She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t let him go
.
He stumbled.
“I can’t move fast enough.”
Ellie didn’t hesitate.
“Then I’ll carry you.”
Jess stared.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
Ellie shrugged.
“Maybe. But I’m not leaving him.”
They ducked into the woods as another explosion
lit the sky.
The town was gone.
The alien looked at her, eyes full of something
she couldn’t name.
“You risk everything for me.”
Ellie met his gaze.
“Because you’re mine.”
He blinked.
“And you are mine.”
Jess groaned.
“Okay, gross. Let’s go before we all die.”
They ran.
Through fire and smoke, deeper into the forest.
Finally, they reached a clearing.
A sleek, silver pod sat halfburied in the earth.
He pressed his hand to it.
The door slid open.
Ellie stared.
“This is your ‘shelter’?”
He smiled faintly.
“It is a beacon.”
Jess groaned.
“So we’re broadcasting our location to more alie
ns?”
Ellie stepped inside.
“If they’re coming, I’d rather face them with hi
m.”
He reached for her.
“You are brave.”
Ellie touched his face.
“I’m yours.”
Jess threw her hands up.
“Well, I’m not. So I’m hiding in the back.”
The pod hummed to life.
Lights flickered. Systems powered on.
Outside, the jets grew louder.
And then—new sounds.
Booms.
Rumbles.
Not from Earth.
The alien’s eyes darkened.
“They’ve arrived.”
Ellie tightened her grip on his hand.
“Then we fight.”
He looked at her, surprised.
“You would stand with me?”
Jess poked her head out.
“Do we have a choice?”
He nodded slowly.
“No. But I will keep her safe.”
Ellie smiled.
“I know.”
Jess groaned again.
“I swear, if this turns into a romance, I’m jump
ing out midflight.”
The pod lifted off.
The world below burned.
But in the sky, a new war was beginning.
And Ellie Morgan, college student and fated mate
, was right in the middle of it.
